Monday, January 16, 2006

Im back.

I'm back. I have been back on "the Rock" for over a week now. It has been really strange, but really good. Not to mention busy and exhausting.

I never thought that I would say it, but I am glad that I am back. I will even go as far to say that America Samoa is not the worst place you could live. In fact there are much worse places in the world. Places that don't have electricity, internet, or Diet Dr. Pepper. Some days I have all of those things, some days are more questionable.

The thing that I disliked the most about being on the island before Christmas was the lack of Diet Dr. Pepper on the island. When I got back there was a surprise in store for me. It is in all the stores along with my second favorite Coke Zero. It all came as a New Years miracle, if you will.

The rain has been a constant since my return. The big rumor on island was that we were going to get slammed with the after effects of two tropical cyclones that "just missed us." People were stocking up on water and pulling their kids out of school because the power and water were going to be knocked out by the 100 mph winds. Fortunately, they were just rumors. We got a little wind and a lot of rain, but that is about it. The rain was fantastic during the week because my classroom was cool. I didn't even turn the fans on. It was a fantastic feeling not to sweat to death. The only problem was that when the ground is completely saturated creatures that usually live outdoors tend to venture in. I really didn't have any problems until Friday when I was teaching and a rat ran into my room. We both froze in our tracks when we realized the other was there, and I did the natural thing...I chased it out of my room. I am thinking about it now and thinking what would I have done if I would have caught up with it? Pick it up? The advantage here is that I chased him right to his hole. I now know where he lives and I have sent the proper people to greet him with traps the next time he comes out.